Becoming Slender For Life ~ Look at the little picture

Letting go of weight, whether it’s 20 pounds or 150 pounds, is daunting when looking at the totality. Staying focused on the next two pounds makes it more doable. I remember when I climbed Mount Rainier-all 14,410 feet of it! After our climb to base camp carrying heavy packs, we set up our tents on a glacier. After a few sleepless hours on a bed of ice, we were up at midnight to begin the assent. At 8 a.m. I looked toward the summit. It loomed massively in front of us. We still had hours to go, and I was exhausted and discouraged. I wondered just whose idea it was for me to do this, anyway. At that moment, the fun was gone. I wanted to just sit down and tell my fellow climbers I’d be right there when they came down. I wanted to quit.

Then I recognized I was at the place when I always quit. I was having the exact same feelings and thoughts. That was the moment when every other time in my life I had quit. These same thoughts and feelings had held me back in most areas of my life- physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

So I stopped thinking about the hours ahead of me to reach the summit and focused on my next step, and then the next and then the next. And finally, there before me was the crater on the summit. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day-I could see forever. By taking one step at a time, I made it. I share this experience with clients as a metaphor for focusing on releasing two pounds each week.
Becoming Slender For Life, Chapter 7, pages 202 – 203